R&D Reclaim delays (and a Kafkaesque discussion about paper)

I have raised this once already - but my thread has been marked erroneously as "answered" , so I'm starting a new thread in the hope that someone will take my concern seriously - and help me answer this question. We filed online for an SME tax credit on 6th June - about 90 days ago We needed to include a CT600L - which is NOT aviable online through our HMRC portal (the CT600 is available and we filed this online as required). So, we sent the CT600L - along with a PDF copy of the online claim, the CT600 by email on 27th June to rd.incentivesreliefs@hmrc.gov.uk. The application apparently also requires a copy of the companies full year accounts, which we also attached. Perhaps foolishly we also sent this documentation by post as a backup. On 15th July, we received a paper letter at our registered office which said our application was rejected because HRMC did not accept paper applications. On 25th July we sent another email explaining that we had applied online, attaching all the relevant documentation for reference . On 28th August we followed-up by email because we had heard nothing. On 2nd September, HMRC sent us a PAPER letter referencing our email of 28th August, restating that they did not accept paper applications and enclosing a paper copy of their previous paper letter. This was then scanned by our secretary and emailed to me. This is not just ironic - it feels properly Kafkaesque. As I said, my previous request on this forum for help (https://community.hmrc.gov.uk/customerforums/bt/4ad7adc5-4765-ef11-a4e5-002248c750c2) received a standard response saying I needed to wait 60 days - and was marked as "answered". I've now re-emailed rd.incentivesreliefs@hmrc.gov.uk again addressed to the person who keeps sending me paper letters to remind me that HMRC doesn't accept paper ... What do I do now ... ?

[Personal Information removed - HMRC Admin]

Hi ,
 

HMRC are committed to making tax digital, please see guidance on our website at Overview of Making Tax Digital   . Following on from the Spring Budget 2021, a number of changes were made to the process for claiming R&D tax relief to improve effectiveness and reduce fraudulent claims.  This included the requirement for all R&D claims to be submitted digitally (including amendments). Please see guidance also available on our website at : Research and Development (R&D) tax relief  .  Whilst this customer forum cannot be used to resolve case specific issues, I can only assume the company hasn’t satisfied the requirements for making an R&D claim as set out in this guidance which is why manual letters have been issued.  I acknowledge that not all teams within HMRC are permitted to correspond digitally currently and appreciate how frustrating this may be.  If you wish to make a complaint your case can be reviewed in more detail by the relevant team.  Guidance on how to complain is at: Complain about HMRC.  You will note complaints can be submitted online but you will need a Government Gateway user ID and password.  You can also ask for a response to your complaint by email. Thank you .

Thanks for your response. It's a pity that my post has been crushed into a wall of text - hopefully others coming after will be able to deciperh this. Your assumption that we have done this incorrectly may be right - but since we weren't given any indication of what was missing other than an erroneous assertion that we had done this on paper, it's hard to correct. Looks like the only option is to raise a complaint. Thanks for the link.